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  • What the Fed Giveth, The Ratings Agencies Taketh Away
    Ratings agencies may not be credible any more, but they still have the right to raise questions; and that's really all that S&P did - they questioned whether GE can continue to maintain its business model in the face of higher risks to the entire financial system.

    Standing right up front in the biggest spotlight of the world is the Chairman of GE, Jeff (former wonder-boy) Immelt. He's trying to maintain the value of GE's common stock while continuing to hold it hostage to his greatest fear - being known as the guy who cut the dividend.

    Many of us have learned that the adage of 2002-2007, "you can have it all", no longer is operative. Jeff better learn this soon or he'll go down as the guy "who blew GE's AAA rating" and forced it to retreat from businesses that otherwise might have restored it to growth.
    Dec 19 06:28 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Has Cutting Interest Rates Saved Anyone?
    Not all of us are trust fund babies; some have an entrepreneurial spirit and are, at the same time, risk-takers. Lowered interest rates mean that our investments in REITs will mostly survive the downturn, as higher cap rates will be offset by lower rates on commercial r/e loans.

    A mortgage has a better chance at being refinanced if the decline in value of the property can be partially offset by lower rates.

    And trust-fund babies should still work; it's good to get out of the house and meet people at work. Remember Jennifer Anniston in "the Good Girl". She worked at a Walmart "smell-alike"... and met the guy who knocked her up there.
    Dec 18 08:05 am |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • A Long and Painful Consumer Slowdown - Barron's Interview
    what joe blue collar does will dramatically effect the retail world; there's a lot of retail space out there, regardless of whether it's 30 redundant Macy's or 300 redundant Walmarts.

    Sooner or later there will be far more consolidation in the retail space; Macy's will either have to raise additional capital or turn the business over to its bondholders.
    Target will survive because of its reasonably clean balance sheet, but other Gen'l Mdse companies will also be forced out of business.

    If 15 percent of the retail space in America suddenly reverted to pasture, consumers would still have adequate access to all the goods and services they could ever want
    Dec 14 15:08 pm |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Stock Buybacks: What's Causing the Decline?
    We are in the midst of a liquidity crisis -- Cash is King!!

    Many strong companies are holding on to cash as they watch credit markets dry up and are unwilling to risk not being able to roll over debt.

    The absolutely strongest firms are trading at less of a discount; for them, holding on to cash gives them the ability to swoop in and buy some complementary firm on the cheap or to use accelerated payment terms and other credits to suppliers to achieve lower prices.

    When cash is king,it's a shame to waste it on shareholders.
    Dec 11 06:34 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Investing in the S&P 500: SPY vs. IVV
    Vanguard Large Cap ETF (VV)
    also tracks S&P quite nicely.

    finance.yahoo.com/q/bc...=^GSPC

    it has an exp ratio of .07%
    Dec 09 08:10 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
    the g-20 summit meeting will denounce bank failures and vow a pledge to improve their economies.

    it will be as effective as UN resolutions condemning Israel's occupation or of Senate resolutions honoring mother's day
    Nov 14 07:47 am |Rating: +2 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Did President Bush's Speech Spark the Rally?
    George Bush couldn't spark a rally at a little league game. The "random walk" on Wall Street has morphed into a series of direction-reversing panics with all the activity reflecting waves of shorting and short-covering.
    Nov 14 06:22 am |Rating: +2 -2 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Obama Is Bad for the Economy - Barron's
    Clinton v Bush on the Economy and the Stock Market:

    s&p 500 on 1/19/1993 - day before clinton took office: 435.13
    s&p 500 on 1/19/2001 - day before Bush II took office: 1,342.54
    s&p 500 on 3/04/2008 - yesterday afternoon 1,2292.20

    Bush's tax cuts have given us an increase in the deficit and national debt that eclipse any and all predecessors. Before an increase in the capital gains tax can matter, one has to generate gains; under Bush the pressures of the federal deficit have sucked the lifeblood out of the economy.
    Aug 24 22:29 pm |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • The Lost Decade: S&P Annual Return Just 2.5% Since 1998
    s&p 500 on 1/19/1993 - day before clinton took office: 435.13
    s&p 500 on 1/19/2001 - day before Bush II took office: 1,342.54
    s&p 500 yesterday afternoon 1,252.54

    the Bush administration has been a complete disaster for the investor class; while tax rates may be lower, the gains are fewer and further between.

    I'd rather make a shitload of money and pay tax than make nothing
    Jul 25 07:53 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • S&P 500: Who Needs a Hedge Fund?
    fees based solely on realized gains will work towards creating incentives to take gains - killing more opportunities to benefit from ltcg treatment.
    Jun 17 06:11 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article

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